1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming device management system and method which provide remote maintenance of image forming devices, such as copiers, facsimiles and printers, that are installed at customer premises.
2. Description of the Related Art
An image forming device management system in which a center system at a center location provides remote maintenance of a plurality of image forming devices, such as printers, copiers, facsimiles and printing presses, at customer premises through a public switched telephone network (PSTN) is known. For example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Applications No.8-331267 and No.10-217580 disclose the image forming device management system of this type.
The image forming device management system of the above type generally includes a customer premise system and a center system which are linked together by the PSTN. In the customer premise system, a plurality of image forming devices are connected onto a local area network (LAN) at the customer premises, and a management apparatus for managing the image forming devices is connected onto the LAN. In the center system, a plurality of clients and a server are connected onto a LAN at the central location.
A conventional method for providing remote maintenance of the image forming devices on the LAN, such as failure message or remote parameter setting, requires the installation of an additional communication path (or a wired or non-wired communication line) which is different from the communication path provided for the LAN. Further, in the conventional method, each of the image forming devices on the LAN in the customer premise system requires the addition of a communication interface unit (the hardware or the firmware) which allows the image forming device to be connected to the PSTN.
If a wired communication line is installed in one of the image forming devices in the customer premise system, the cost of the installation of the wired communication line is further needed in addition to the cost of the installation of the LAN. If a non-wired communication line is installed in one of the image forming devices, the image forming device requires the incorporation of a radio device that allows the image forming device to be connected to the PSTN. Both cases will significantly increase the cost of facilities installation and the cost of communications. Further, the restrictions of the installation of the plurality of image forming devices in the customer premise system are accompanied, and such will deteriorate the quality of communication of failure messages between the center system and the customer premise system due to the facilities environment of the customer premise system.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No.8-331267 discloses a remote maintenance method for the image forming devices on the LAN. This remote maintenance method requires the installation of an additional communication path which is different from the communication path provided for the LAN. Further, in this conventional method, each of the image forming devices requires the addition of a communication interface unit which allows the image forming device to be connected to the PSTN. This will significantly increase the cost of facilities installation and the cost of communications.
Further, in the conventional method, when a failure occurs in any of the image forming devices on the LAN, the operator in the customer premise system may perform a local remedy on the failing image forming device by himself, or may notify the center system of the failure by a telephone call. This will place a heavy workload on the operator. It is desired to provide, with low cost and high reliability, remote maintenance of the image forming devices at the customer premises from the center location
Further, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No.10-217580 discloses a maintenance method for the image forming devices. This maintenance method requires that an electronic mail address provided for sending a service call thereto be maintained with respect to each of the image forming devices. When the updating or maintenance of the e/mail addresses of the individual image forming devices is needed, the workload for the updating or maintenance will be significantly increased and the occurrence of an error of the updating will be highly possible. This will significantly increase the cost of facilities installation and the cost of communications.
FIG. 18 shows the arrangement of a conventional image forming device management system.
As shown in FIG. 18, in the conventional image forming device management system, one of the plurality of image forming devices 100 on the LAN at the customer premises is connected through a communication adapter 200 to the PSTN. In this arrangement, the image forming device 100 of interest generally includes an LAN interface unit (LAN I/F) 100A, a controller (CNTL) 100B, a mechanical unit (MECHA) 100C, and a communication interface unit (COMM I/F) 100D. In order to connect the image forming device 100 through the communication adapter 200 to the PSTN, the image forming device 100 requires the communication interface unit 100D.
In the conventional image forming device management system of FIG. 18, when a management device 300 for management of the plurality of image forming devices 100 is provided on the LAN, it is necessary to newly install another telephone line for the management device 300 that is different from the telephone lines installed for the image forming devices 100 connected through the communication adapters 200 to the PSTN. This will significantly increase the cost of facilities installation and the cost of communications.
In order to overcome the above-described problems, preferred embodiments of the present invention provide an improved image forming device management system and method that provide, with low cost and high reliability, remote maintenance of the image forming devices at the customer premises from the center location.
An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming device management system that provides, with low cost and high reliability, remote maintenance of the image forming devices at the customer premises from the center location.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a center system for use in an image forming device management system, which provides, with low cost and high reliability, remote maintenance of the image forming devices.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a management apparatus of a customer premise system for use in an image forming device management system, which allows a center system to provide, with low cost and high reliability, remote maintenance of the image forming devices at the customer premises.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an image forming device management method that provides, with low cost and high reliability, remote maintenance of the image forming devices at the customer premises from the center location.
The above-mentioned object of the present invention is achieved by an image forming device management system including a customer premise system and a center system linked by a public switched telephone network PSTN, the customer premise system having a plurality of image forming devices and a management apparatus connected onto a first LAN at customer premises, the center system having one or a plurality of computers connected onto a second LAN at a center location, the image forming device management system including: monitoring means, provided in the management apparatus, for monitoring operating conditions of the image forming devices on the first LAN; storing means, provided in the management apparatus, for storing results of the monitoring of the operating conditions by the monitoring means; failure detecting means, provided in the management apparatus, for detecting a failure in any of the image forming devices on the first LAN; first message means, provided in the management apparatus, for transmitting a failure message to the center system via the PSTN when a failure is detected by the failure detecting means, the failure message including a failure code provided to identify the failure; reading means, provided in the center system, for reading the results of the monitoring of the operating conditions of the image forming devices from the management apparatus; retrieval means, provided in the center system, for receiving the failure message transmitted by the first message means, and for accessing a database of the center system by using the failure code of the received failure message so as to produce results of the accessing; and second message means, provided in the center system, for extracting a service department ID from the database based on the accessing results produced by the retrieval means, and for transmitting a service request message to a service department indicated by the service department ID.
The above-mentioned object of the present invention is achieved by a center system for use in an image forming device management system including a customer premise system and the center system linked by a public switched telephone network PSTN, the customer premise system having a plurality of image forming devices and a management apparatus connected onto a first LAN at customer premises, the center system having one or a plurality of computers connected onto a second LAN at a center location, the center system including: reading means for reading results of monitoring of operating conditions of the image forming devices from the management apparatus; retrieval means for receiving a failure message transmitted by the management apparatus via the PSTN, and for accessing a database of the center system by using a failure code contained in the received failure message so as to produce results of the accessing; and message means for extracting a service department ID from the database based on the accessing results produced by the retrieval means, and for transmitting a service request message to a service department indicated by the service department ID.
The above-mentioned object of the present invention is achieved by a management apparatus for use in an image forming device management system including a customer premise system and a center system linked by a public switched telephone network PSTN, the customer premise system having a plurality of image forming devices and the management apparatus connected onto a first LAN at customer premises, the center system having one or a plurality of computers connected onto a second LAN at a center location, the management apparatus including: monitoring means for monitoring operating conditions of the image forming devices on the first LAN; storing means for storing results of the monitoring of the operating conditions by the monitoring means; failure detecting means for detecting a failure in any of the image forming devices on the first LAN; and message means for transmitting a failure message to the center system via the PSTN when a failure is detected by the failure detecting means, the failure message including a failure code provided to identify the failure.
The above-mentioned object of the present invention is achieved by a management method for an image forming device management system including a customer premise system and a center system linked by a public switched telephone network PSTN, the customer premise system having a plurality of image forming devices and a management apparatus connected onto a first LAN at customer premises, the center system having one or a plurality of computers connected onto a second LAN at a center location, the management method including the steps of: monitoring operating conditions of the image forming devices on the first LAN by the management apparatus; storing results of the monitoring of the operating conditions of the image forming devices; detecting a failure in any of the image forming devices on the first LAN by the management apparatus; transmitting a failure message from the management apparatus to the center system via the PSTN when the failure is detected, the failure message including a failure code provided to identify the failure; reading the monitoring results from the management apparatus by the center system; receiving the failure message, transmitted by the management apparatus, at the center system; accessing a database of the center system by using the failure code of the received failure message so as to produce results of the accessing; extracting a service department ID from the database based on the accessing results; and transmitting a service request message from the center system to a service department indicated by the service department ID.
The image forming device management system and method of the present invention is effective in providing a simple, inexpensive configuration of the system and in carrying out, with high reliability, the remote maintenance of the image forming devices at the user premises from the center location. The image forming device management system of the present invention can provide, with low cost and high reliability, the remote maintenance of the image forming devices.